It's Late (1959)
Unfamiliar with this week's song. Hear it here.
1) Ricky Nelson laments that he should have been home hours
ago. When is the last time you stayed up later than you should have? What were
you doing?
Last weekend. I wake up at 4:30am without an alarm clock,
what the HELL was I thinking staying up until midnight?! To binge episodes of Chopped that I’ve
already seen, lol.
2) Compounding Ricky's problem is that he's nearly out of
gas. How is your gas tank right now? When did you most recently fill 'er up?
It’s about 60 miles to “E”, so we’ll be
filling up this morning on the way. I
last filled up Monday or Tuesday…
3) It gets worse! He can't call home because he doesn't have
a dime for the pay phone. Have you recently been in a situation where you've
been glad you had your cell phone handy?
A month or so ago, I was driving home from work when the “low tire pressure”
light came on—it showed my right rear tire was only 5 psi!!! I was, mind you, in middle of the I-25/I-40 junction,
a mess of flyovers, exits, etc. I pulled
off the first exit I came to, and pulled over.
Out came the trusty phone, and Google, and I found a auto shop literally
one street over. Saved me from calling
AAA and standing on the side of the road!
4) The video for this song is from an episode of The
Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Ozzie Nelson, Ricky's father, was in charge of
the show and made the rules. One was that no one was allowed to smoke on the
set ... except his wife, Harriet. Do you smoke? Have you ever lived with a
smoker?
Not anymore—I quit in October
2013. Hubs used to smoke also, but he
quit a year prior to me. Now, when I’m
around smokers, I can’t believe I smelled like that. Ugggg.
5) Life magazine coined the phrase "teen idol" to
describe Ricky's popularity. According to Tiger Beat, today's teen idols
include Johnny Orlando and Ruby Jay. Johnny was born in 2003, Ruby in 2004. Sam
admits that before today, she had no idea who these young people are. How about
you?
Nope. No clue.
6) While Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan have posthumously
praised Ricky Nelson's music, 1950s music critics dismissed him as a
lightweight. What's the last review you read? Was it written by a professional
critic, or was it contributed by a consumer to a site like Amazon or Yelp?
Here’s the last review (more like a blurb) I
read, written by journalist Cheryl Eddy, from the IO9 article “Your SummerReading List Is Set With All of June's New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books”
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson
 |
| Reserve it here |
The latest from the author of Snow Crash is described as
“Paradise Lost by way of Philip K. Dick.” It’s about a tech billionaire who’s
left brain-dead after a medical procedure—a brain that’s then scanned and
uploaded for safekeeping until an afterlife known as “the Bitworld” is created,
and he’s revived as part of a plan to achieve eternal digital life. What could possibly
go wrong? (June 4)
I really like Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash is a classic), so
I’ll likely reserve this one at the library.
7) At the height of his popularity, Ricky tried his hand at
movies, appearing in the western Rio Bravo with John Wayne. He turned 18 during
the filming, and Wayne celebrated by playfully throwing Ricky into a sack of
horse manure. Do you think pranks and practical jokes are funny?
Absolutely not. Frankly, I think they’re cruel.
8) In 1959, when this song was popular, the St. Lawrence
Seaway was completed. It connects Canada to our Great Lakes. Without looking it
up, can you name all 5 Great Lakes?
I'm embarrassed to say that Huron and Superior were as far as I got without Google.
9) Random question – You drive past a local motel and see
the car of a very married friend right there in the lot. Would you ask her
about it?
Nope, it’s none of my business.
